Analysis Of Salt To The Sea By Ruta Sepetys

The structure of a novel enables it to embody, integrate and communicate its content by revealing its role in the creation and perception of it. A complex structure such as that of Robert Drewe’s work The Drowner, published in 1996, refers to the interrelation or arrangement of parts in a complex entity1. Drewe’s novel is a multi-faceted epic love story presenting a fable of European ambitions in an alien landscape, and a magnificently sustained metaphor of water as the life and death force2. The main concerns of the novel include concerns about love, life, death and human frailty. These concerns are explored through the complex structure of the novel. That is, through its symbolic title, prologues, and division into sections. The

This book report discusses the plot, significant characters, setting (e.g., time of the story took place, historical background), problems and resolutions, themes or messages of the story. A reflection of the author’s writing style will be presented followed by a conclusion.

When dealing with glass objects such as a glass beaker or thermometer, be sure to hold the item. In instances where glass is broken during the experiment, do not clean up the area yourself! Notify your instructor immediately.

The Open Boat, written by Stephen Crane is discusses the journey of four survivors that were involved in a ship wreck. The oiler, the cook, the captain, and the correspondent are the survivors that make onto a dingey and struggle to survive the roaring waves of the ocean. They happen to come across land after being stranded in the ocean for two days and start to feel a sense of hope that they would be rescued anytime soon. They began feeling down as they realize nobody was going to rescue them and make an attempt to reach shore. The story discusses an external conflict of man vs nature to help state clearly the central idea. The central idea of the story conveys man’s success against nature when ones’ abilities are combined together to increase the chances of survival. The use of 3rd person limited omniscience and character analysis helps to explain how the journey of the men’s survival to get out of the ocean and reach shore is able to succeed while Stephen Crane uses symbolism to demonstrate the unity created amongst the survivors.

Although Salt to the Sea is a story about things that have been lost and people enduring extreme hardships, it is also a story about hope, family and love. In the book Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, almost all of the main characters go through extremely tragic and terrible events. However, these characters also experience family moments and happy times. Despite the fact that in times of war there is hardship, violence and death, love and family shines through the tragedy. It is the two youngest members of the group, Klaus and Emilia, who eventually find a family to love.

In his goal to explore and understand the ambiguities of war, Doerr expands his point of view far beyond the lives of a small cast of characters. The first section of Chapter One tells the myth of the “Sea of Flames”, a diamond that blesses its owner with immortal life, yet condemns everyone around him to suffering and death. Archetypally, the prince who wishes to possess the diamond represents all those greedy for power and lebensraum in WWII. It is when Marie-Laure returns the diamond to the ocean where it was born that the war ends and Etienne is saved. These mythic reverberations expand the story in time and meaning, just as Marie-Laure “hears the bones of dead whales stir five leagues below” (Doerr 391) and explores imaginative worlds with Etienne and in her books.

World War Two resulted in a chaotic destruction that overwhelmed Europe. These feelings of dismay are concisely summarized in Ruta Sepetys’ Salt of the Sea.. An impactful quote states, “war had bled color from everything, leaving nothing but a storm of gray.” The war in 1945 had drained any and all feelings of hope and spirit out of European people. In it’s wake, the war left a cloud of devastation and despair. Florian and Joana have to overcome this war, their fate, and guilt in order to return to their past selves and survive their journey in a German and Russian warzone.

The 1954 film Salt of the Earth directed by Herbert J. Biberman, is set in New Mexico and is about the Hispanic miners working for Delaware Zinc, a mining company, and the plot of the movie is about how the miners go on strike till they are treated equally the same as the other non-Hispanic miners. The miners’ strike goes on for months and the company decides to hold out on the workers by scaring the old workers with new miners to take their jobs, and during that time the wives of the miners decided to take it upon themselves to put themselves on the frontlines with the men because the women are also fighting for something else sanitation. News gets out about the strike and many supporters send letters with money

Literature encapsulates the human experience, reflecting facets of our culture, traditions, and beliefs. Literature functions as a tool to develop and explore empathetic links with other individuals and can provide insight into experiences removed from our own reality. Peter Fischl’s poem ‘Little Polish Boy’ is one such text in which we can attain a unique understanding of the horrors catalysed by war. An expression of Fischl’s own Holocaust experience, this poem is set in WWII, and addressed as a letter to an innocent child of the war from a photograph Fischl found years after the war ended. We can also learn of the loss and grief children face in times of war through the picture book ‘a Soldier, a Dog and a Boy’ by Libby Hathorn. The story follows a young boy orphaned by the Battle of Somme and he’s only left to survive with his dog before an Australian soldier comes to his rescue. These texts allow us to reach a better understanding of the different effects conflict has on children.

In Harry Mulisch’s novel The Assault, Mulisch expands on the historical event of the murder of Fake Kirst who was assassinated on the streets of Amsterdam by Grommet Krijger through the life of Anton Steenwijk following World War Two. Throughout the novel Mulisch takes advantage of numerous motifs and expands their ability through a longstanding motif of water. He uses these themes to develop the central character Anton who works to conquer history and his own past. The motif of water is a strong decision by Mulisch that broadens the novel’s overall depth and meaning .

The novel German Boy by Wolfgang Samuel is about his life as a boy from Germany. The book takes place during World War II. Wolfgang goes through this tragic time era with his mother and his sister Ingrid. He is not able to live a normal life of a child such as other children in the world. The characters, settings, and themes make this novel the success it is today because it helps the reader to know what it was like to live during WWII. Wolfgang’s development and experiences further the reader's interest. Going to Berlin and Strasburg from Wolfgang’s hometown Sagan added to the struggles that he faced with moving from place to place to seek safety. Family will always be there to help and no one is safe from war is what Wolfgang learns with his experiences living in this time period.

“Salt, A World History,” is an extensive aspect of world history by Earth’s one edible rock - salt. The book begins at the start of recorded history, and highlights humanity’s dependence on salt, up to roughly present day times. It focuses on the effect salt had on, and its contributions to, humankind. The book details how salt affected, economics, religion, science, and culinary practices all over the world.

As long as there has been war, those involved have managed to get their story out. This can be a method of coping with choices made or a way to deal with atrocities that have been witnessed. It can also be a means of telling the story of war for those that may have a keen interest in it. Regardless of the reason, a few themes have been a reoccurrence throughout. In ‘A Long Way Gone,’ ‘Slaughterhouse-Five,’ and ‘Novel without a Name,’ three narrators take the readers through their memories of war and destruction ending in survival and revelation. The common revelation of these stories is one of regret. Each of these books begins with the main character as an innocent, patriotic soldier or civilian and ends in either the loss of innocence and regret of choices only to be compensated with as a dire warning to those that may read it. These books are in fact antiwar stories meant not to detest patriotism or pride for one’s country or way of life, but to detest the conditions that lead to one being so simpleminded to kill another for it. The firebombing of Dresden, the mass execution of innocent civilians in Sierra Leone and a generation of people lost to the gruesome and outlandish way of life of communism and Marxism should be enough to convince anyone. These stories serve as another perspective for the not-so-easily convinced.

John Cheever and F. Scott Fitzgerald are both 20th century writers whose story’s thematically reflected the despair and the emptiness of life. In both story’s “The Swimmer” and “Babylon Revisited” the main characters undergo similar problems, although they are presented differently in each story. The subject matter of both stories, pertain to the ultimate downfall of a man. “The Swimmer”, conveys the story of a man who swims his way into reality. He at first is very ignorant to his situation; however with the passing of time he becomes cognizant to the idea that he has lost everything. In “Babylon Revisited” the key character is a “recovering alcoholic”, who return to his homeland in hope to get his daughter back. However, problems from

In Salt To The Sea by Ruta Sepetys there is a young girl called Joana who desperately misses her family and is the leader of a small group of refugees that runs into Florian a German art forger who stole an amber swan from the Fuhrer and Emilia a polish girl who is 8 months pregnant after Florian saves Emilia from being slaughtered by a Russian soldier who confuses her for being German they run into Joana’s group where Joana does surgery on Florian who had a piece of shrapnel stuck in him and they stay for the night. We also meet another character through letters he is writing to his beloved Hannelore called Alfred who is a German soldier helping the Reich evacuate Jews from Gotenhafen. Florian leaves because he is worried he will get caught and Emilia follows him. Soon after Emilia collapsed but luckily Florian was able to find the group. Joana discovers that Emilia is pregnant.